Nephew walks across Canada for MMIW

With each step Matthew Jefferson takes, the 120 pounds of equipment he’s carrying on his back gets heavier and heavier.

The closest town is probably three days away. Jefferson knew this journey would be physically demanding but he wasn’t expecting it to be so mentally draining.

Just as he feels like giving in to the exhaustion, his travelling partner Mark Vigers starts singing Hakuna Matata. Jefferson joins Vigors in singing the famous Lion King song which means no worries, and immediately boosts his spirits and evaporates his fatigue.

Jefferson and Vigors are walking across Canada to raise awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous woman.

Jefferson was inspired to go on this journey after his aunt Frances Brown went missing last fall while mushroom picking.

As previously reported by The Interior News, the 53-year-old Indigenous woman failed to return to a meeting place with her cousin on Oct. 14 in the Kitseguecla Road area.

“How can I reach as many people as possible, and the easiest way to do that is by walking,” Jefferson said.

Jefferson quit his job and started planning his journey for three months. During that time he reached out to various organizations for support and figured out details like which routes to take, what equipment he’ll need and how much food he can carry.

Jefferson started his walk on June 1 in Victoria.

Vigers is a backpacker and photographer from Scotland who had been in Canada for just over a year when he hitched a ride outside of Nanaimo in order to get to Victoria from two German fellows.

While driving back to Victoria the German men saw their friend, Jefferson, walking along the highway to Chemainus and stopped to say hi.

Jefferson and Vigers hit it off right away. After a few days of camping together Vigors decided to join Jefferson on his walk.

“I figured that would be the best way to see even more of the country, meet more locals and get involved in the Canadian culture and see a lot more than most travelers would,” Vigers said.

Jefferson didn’t plan on getting a travel buddy.

“I was so flabbergasted,” Jefferson said. “Somebody so estranged to all of this deciding yeah why not. It was a very sort of Forest Gump moment.”

The pair have walked to Tofino, Nanaimo, took a ferry to Vancouver and continued on to Hixon. They reached Prince George last Sunday.

In total they’ve walked around 1,100 km. They walk an average of 25 to 45 km with 120 to 150 pounds on their backs for six to eight hours a day.

Jefferson and Vigers day starts at the crack of dawn. They usually have oats and apricot for breakfast with sock coffee.

After doing some stretches they sing the problem-free philosophy of Hakuna Matata as a part of their morning ritual.